Fragmented Sky
by Murashigure
Summary: Matsuko wasn't sure what to expect, but this surely wasn't it. Tired of being confused she takes matters into her own hands.  While doing so she meets two peculiar people on the streets of Rukongai and the afterlife doesn't seem as hopeless as it seemed.


Hello and welcome to Fragmented Sky. I'm your lovely author Murashigure. Please enjoy your stay. Any opinions, reviews, suggestions and questions are welcome. This being my first fanfiction I don't expect much, but if you do like it please let me know!

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><p>A girl groaned in pain, body frozen and afraid. When was the last time she was this scared? She couldn't remember. Mahogany eyes darted around, searching. Where are they? Have to be aware, alert. Jumbled thoughts scattered around in her brain, she couldn't understand.<p>

Finally her legs listened to her internal command and she quickly backed herself against a wall. She shivered, of course that wasn't true it was the middle of July, she shouldn't be cold. A hazy figure caught her attention. The girl squinted, trying to focus the view but nothing changed, she could only see it slowly, confidently advance toward her. Gravel crunched under her shoes as she tried to back up once again. The action seemed to trigger her forgotten injury. Pain seared through her. Gasping, she clutched the junction between her neck and shoulder in pain.

The figure seemed to bend down over her, the girl's vision blurred, breathing heavy...something warm and wet, her hand slipped from the injury, bloody.

Matsuko laid her head against the wall, eyes sliding closed.

"Liar" she spoke, her voice just a whisper.

_'Life doesn't flash before your eyes...'_

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><p>"Hey- hey kid." A voice prodded.<p>

"You really need to wake up now."

Matsuko stirred. She blinked her heavy eyes in confusion. What was she doing out on the street? It wasn't until she looked up that she finally took notice of the man before her. Gasping she jumped.

The man rolled his pale blue eyes. They seemed to glow against the pitch black night. His arms were crossed and a scowl marred his face.

"Finally! Now come here so I can send you off." he said.

"Send me off?" Matsuko took a step back and shook her head. This was ridiculous, just a moment ago...a moment ago she-

"Hey, eyes over here girl, I get it, you're confused, but this is a _really _bad time to shut down on me. Just let me send you off before we get into some real trouble."

Matsuko glared at the man, why does he want to send her off? _Send her off where? What trouble?_

"Look, I'm just going to go home, you-you go do whatever you…do" She paused and glanced at his clothes. The man wore a black top and bottom, the only thing that seemed to separate the color was the simple white sash he wore around the middle and straw sandals adorned his feet. The strangest thing was that he was carrying a katana around. Matsuko momentarily wondered why he hadn't been picked up by the police for carrying that thing.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The man looked over his shoulder, his mouth set in a thin line.

"I don't have time for your questions girl, if you don't come here now, I'm going to have to forcefully do this and that would be troublesome, so just get over here."

Matsukos face twisted in disgust. _This guy must be looking for a prostitute. _She thought. It was the only conclusion she could come to. _He must be some kind of samurai wannabe who's into women_. Why in the world he would mistake her for that kind of girl confused her. "Sorry, I'm not into that kind of thing so I'm just going to leave now." She backed up cautiously, keeping her eyes on the ash haired man before her. The plan: when she hit the end of the street run for her life. Perfect.

"It's already been severed." The man spoke, his voice seemed tired or annoyed, Matsuko couldn't tell.

"What?" Matsuko stopped. "What are you talking about?"

The man let out a frustrated sigh. "Your chain of fate, the thing dangling from your chest, It's been severed, look behind you!"

Matsuko looked down and brought her hand up against the chain. She didn't turn her head, didn't even glance back, she didn't want to, so instead she grabbed the chain.

_'W-what the hell?'_ Pulling on it lightly, she heard the metal clink of its links. It certainly felt real.

"Hey! Don't pull on that!" the man snapped.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" He shouted. It seemed to her that he was getting annoyed.

Matsuko let go of the chain, its weight settled back onto her chest. "Who are you?" The man sighed.

"Kuroda Kinji, shinigami" he said calmly.

"Death god." She confirmed.

"Yeah"

"I'm dead."

"Yeah"

A million and two questions rose from her head, she didn't understand, how did she die? What happened? Why her? She didn't remember anything come to think of it. If she was really dead she should know how she died at least, remember _something._

Suddenly an inhuman cry sounded out. Matsuko winced as she covered her hears to try and block out the painful sound.

Her eyes flew toward the shinigami "What_ is _that?"

Kinji suddenly appeared before her, his mouth set in a grim line.

"I told you, we didn't have time." He raked his hair back with his hand, grabbing the ends of its ashy tresses momentarily before letting his hand fall back to his side.

"Well you should have told me why!" she hissed. "That monster- thing, is it what killed me?"

Kinji shook his head. "If a hollow killed you, your body would be mangled, unidentifiable."

Matsukos eyes widened. Right, her body, the chain protruding from her chest was broken he said…so the other half was probably attached to her…body.

"Will you let me send you off now?" The shinigami asked, interrupting her thoughts. The cry seemed to be louder, more painful. This hollow thing was in pain.

"It's my job to send you to Soul Society" he continued. Pausing, he glanced behind him. A large beast with a white mask slowly made its way down the street. "And to take care of that, so don't worry"

"Help it." She said. "Help that thing…and then I'll go with you." Mahogany eyes bore into pale blue.

Kinji sighed. "How annoying." He mumbled as he turned his back and unsheathed his katana.

Matsuko watched him shift his blade into a striking position. He was going to kill it, he was a shinigami, and apparently they kill monsters on the side of transporting souls to the afterlife. In a flash he was above the hollow, katana positioned high above his head. Bringing it down, he dragged through the large body of the hollow before it separated in half. Two loud thumps hit the ground and the crying stopped. Matsuko spotted Kenji walking toward her, katana resting over his shoulder. He stopped in front of her.

"You ready now?"

Matsuko laughed. He still seemed annoyed with the whole thing.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, I did make a deal with you didn't I?" Not that he actually accepted it, but there wasn't anything she could do now. She was dead, and she was always curious what happened after you died. Living as a ghost didn't sound very appealing.

His mouth tilted up a little in what might have been a smile. "It isn't going to hurt, just a tap"

Kinji took the hilt of his katana and gently stamped her forehead. Matsuko's eyes fluttered closed.


End file.
